A Sword Over a Coward's Kiss
by The Brown-ie
Summary: After spending most of his life watching the world from Metropolis city-limits, his father Lex Luthor, sends him to stay with his childhood friend, Bruce Wayne. But when you're an adolescent metahuman without minimal control over your superpower and a lack of human social skills, it's hard sharing a house with Wayne Clan... Or at least it was, until Kon-El meets Tim.
1. Chapter 1

Prologue

Their attire was entirely too cheery for a funeral: a robin's egg sundress, a green and purple tee, a pair of violently red heels. They watched, lined up in a perfect row under their umbrellas as the summer rain fell from a slate sky, the casket sank into the earth. It splashed down, mud marring the beauty of its ivory casing.

The priest read his prayer, stopping occasionally wipe his foggy, rain-flecked spectacles against his tattered stole when he could no longer see. He sputtered through it, his high, aged voice causing them to grind their teeth with each word:

O God, by whose mercy the souls of the faithful find rest;

mercifully grant forgiveness of their sins to Thy servants and handmaids,

and to all here and elsewhere who rest in Christ:

that being freed from all sins,

they may rejoice with Thee for evermore.

Through the same our Lord. When he finished, Lena stepped forward. She bowed her head in seemingly quiet contemplation as she inched her way to the grave's edge. Mercy touched her shoulder tenderly. Her brother Lex offered a wry smile. Then, she cleared her pale throat and hawked a great glob of spit. It fell in a gracelessly on the casket with a wet thump. Lex laughed, the fug of his breath fading into the lingering fog. Horrified, the priest hastily tucked his tome under his arm and shuffled back to the rectory.

"Honestly," Mercy chided, a faint hint of a smile pulling at the corners of her mouth as she shooed them towards the parking lot.

The soothing rhythm of a rain-slick road slipping under their tires was a substitute for conversation. Lex leaned his hairless head against the window, watching dreary skyline grow larger as they sped towards Metropolis. Lush foliage gave way to spires of concrete and steal as they crossed over the bridge to New Troy. Metropolis was in mourning.

There were holograms of him everywhere - at every bus stop, in every store front window, on every billboard. Some broadcasted his life story: how this "country boy from Kansas" rescued them his unrivaled technological genius. He rescued Metropolis and transformed it into that shining beacon of hope known as City of Tomorrow. His wealth became their wealth; his success became their success; his might became their might. The city became a place where people could dream again and one man made it all possible.

"If only they knew..." Lex groused, kicking the seat in front him.

"Maybe it's best if they don't," Mercy returned. She signaled left. "He meant a lot to many people."

His sister snorted, her lips twisted into a half sneer as she turned her attentions to her phone.

Lex shrugged and sank further down into his seat, feeling the cool of the leather against the back of his skull.

Metropolis was in mourning.

Lionel Luthor was dead.

Lena ran a lemon lacquered nail across a stray business card, her scratching a welcomed distraction to Lex and Mercy as the executor read the will aloud.

There was a quite a bit of money left to the Letitia Luthor Ovarian Cancer Foundation.

To his secretary, Hope, Lionel left the yacht they had spent much of their time on during their mother's decline.

Mercy Graves received a number of Lex Corp shares for her years of dedicated service, as well as additional funds to continue to provide said service to his children in the future.

"As for my beloved children," the attorney droned. "I hereby bequeath unto my only daughter, Lena Letitia Luthor-"

The scratching stopped.

"Enough." Lena sat up straight, pushing the shredded announcement to the side. "Just get to the point. What does that bastard want?"

"W-well, your father wants to leaved control of Lex Corp to you when you've graduated from business school in May."

"And Lexy?"

"Just give it away whatever is it," Lex muttered. "I don't want it."

"Your father left you this," the man continued. He rummaged through his briefcase until he produced a small manila envelope in his weathered hands. He slid it across the polished table, stopping just over the edge. Gingerly, Lex turned it over in his hands some numbers written across its flap in his father's spidery scrawl:

2341940

He opened it. Inside was a keycard - thin, smooth and so black it absorbed the light from his pale fingertips. Lex looked up, feeling the weight of everyone's eye burrowing into his bald head. Automatically, he looked to Mercy, who had been his father's confidant for nearly his entire life. She stared back at him, through the impenetrable dark of her sunglasses. She adjusted them slightly, pushing them up the bridge of her nose before her fingers disappeared beneath her shirt collar. She pulled out a similar black card attached to attached to its end. Lex inhaled sharply, his heart thrumming wildly as an odd tightness filled his chest "H-how did you-?"

"It doesn't matter," she said frankly. "We should go. Immediately."

Apologies were made over the scrapping of chairs. Mercy tucked a generous check into the executor's blazer pocket as the twins rushed through the door, their coats in hand.

"I needn't remind you of our confidentiality agreement," Mercy asked, the brass doorknob creaking under her grip. He shook his head furiously. She smiled, closing the door behind her. He only dared to breath once the clack of her heels died away.

They stared down into the empty elevator shaft.

"I thought it was broken," Lex uttered, toeing a bit of the violently yellow "out of order" tape into the fathomless darkness. "We never saw him using it..."

"Mercy," Lena whispered fearfully. "Are you... going to push us in?"

"No," came the woman's monosyllabic reply. "Please move."

The twins scrambled out of her away, flanking Mercy as she stood at the precipice. She pressed the security card she took from Lex against the security pad. There was a series of beeps before the screen above it prompted it for pass code. Mercy pulled out the envelope and entered the numbers. Then, silence. They held their collective breaths as the code disappeared and the word - ACCEPTED - flashed.

The cables whorled to life, hauling the elevator car upward. It arrived, its doors swishing open wide as Mercy marched her way in.

"Seriously," Lena pleaded, stepping across the threshold, Lex following closely behind her. "Is this thing going to plummet us to our deaths?"

"Unlikely," Mercy replied, crossing her arms as the door slid closed and the elevator began its descent. "But not impossible."

'Well shit, Mercy!" his twin snapped, slapping her knees. "Why are you taking us down here? Aren't you supposed be keeping us safe? Saving our lives?"

"It's not your lives that need saving," Mercy replied coldly. And then, the lights went out.

"W-what's happening?" his sister gasped. Lex groped blindly in the dark, pulling himself against the nearest wall.

"We're nearly there," Mercy answered over their panicked whimpers. Before either twin could ask, the elevator slowed to a stop. A ding sounded. As the doors began to open, a warm vermillion light filled the car.

"Are these..." Lex started, craning his neck to look inspect the lights overhead, as they exited. "Red spectrum...sunlamps?"

"Well, what's down here that needs something like this?" The twins looked at Mercy as she strode past them.

"Come," she said simply. "And you can see for yourself."

They passed many rooms, many labs. There was one laboratory that held what looked like some sort of alien pod - large and looming, taking up much of the room itself. From what Lex could see, the outside was decorated with strange etchings. Mercy had to pull him away, his fingertips lingering on the glass as he traced their odd shapes. They saw a hologram - like the one's Lionel invented- projecting from a crystal. It was a man, bearded and gray and sorrowful. Lena swore his eyes followed them when the passed the observation window. There was a kitchen with a drying rack of freshly washed dishes, a bathroom with steam still heavy in the air.

They arrived at their destination: the last door, hidden away in a small alcove. There was a small keypad above the lock.

"Alexander," Mercy spoke. "You are to go in. Your sister and I must double back. There are some things we must collect before we return topside."

"And what are they?" But his question went unanswered as Mercy pressed the keycard and the envelope into Lex's hand before cupping his face between her fingers.

"Lex," she said softly. "Lex, your father has done...things - Especially to you two. But, when you go in there, you need to push past all of that. What's in this room is more important than his failings and your anger."

"B-but I am n-not angry."

"That's a lie." She placed a kiss atop his head. Her lips left alien against exposed flesh as heat rushed from his crown to his collar. "You don't have to forgive him. You don't have to forgive me... I am just as guilty for keeping this a secret for so long."

"M-Mercy, you're scaring us..."

"I know." Her fingers trembled faintly as she removed her shades. Her eyes were glassy, shining under the vermillion light. "I am sorry."

Lex entered the numbers, each beep increasing the heavy sensation in his stomach. The door clicked and he pushed it open, closing it behind him as Lena shouted after him.

The room was small with a bed taking up most of its space. And on that bed, was a little boy. He was no older than 3 or 4, bouncing a plush dog along a shape obscured by the dark duvet. He was singing in a language different from any Lex had ever heard.

The boy froze, his toy slipping when he realized Lex had entered. He looked up at him. Lex held his breath. The boy's eyes were glowing blue under the red light. The child shouted something in that unfamiliar tongue, causing shape to stir. The duvet fell away and Lex saw another boy - older, closer to his own age, with the the same fiercely glowing eyes. Almost immediately, they scrambled from the bed to kneel on the ground, pressing their heads down until they touched the tile. The little one struggled a bit, wiggling about to keep his position, until the elder gently placed a hand on his head.

And that's when he saw them. They were thin - horrendously thin - with bones jutting out of their equally thin garments at dangerous angles. Wrapped around their necks were thick, dual black bands, poking out from beneath their threadbare shirt collars.

Nausea swept through Lex's body. His vision blurred and the room began to sway. His knees went weak, causing him to sit on hard on the floor as he clutched at his frantic heart. The keycard fell from his trembling hands, landing between him and his father's sin.

The little one looked up, his eyes shimmering in the crimson light. He sat up, ignoring the elder's protestations, and seized the card in his tiny hands. Slowly, he it out for Lex to take. His eyes were impossibly huge, ethereally blue and far too young to hide the immense suffering behind them.

"Dad," Lex croaked. "W-what the hell is this?"


	2. Chapter 2

**Fourteen**

_He screwed his eyes shut as calloused fingers traced the length of his ribs, until they settled on his hip. They seemed content, absently stroking his flank while rough lips placed kisses along his trembling jaw. _

_"That was fun, wasn't it?" Lionel's whispered, his words like a flame fanning across Kal's face. He endured a few more kisses, a playful tug on his collar before the man moved away. There was a rustle of cloth, a crumbling of paper. Slowly, he opened his eyes, blinking under the harsh fluorescent lighting. _

_"Get dressed," Lionel commanded as he shrugged on his lab coat. Carefully, Kal slid off the table and onto the floor. Cold raced up his slight body through his feet as he quickly pulled on his a long shirt. He fingered the threadbare hem, waiting as the man flipped absently through the pages on his clipboard._

_"I have something I want to show you." He looked up and saw Lionel: hand extended like a gnarled claw, smile like a feral snarl. Kal took it obediently an allowed himself to be pulled back into the hall._

_"You've been such a good boy. So, I've made something for you." Lionel said as he increased his pace, red light washing away the brief color. Kal struggled to keep up, his bare feet slapping over the linoleum floor. Lionel was not in the habit of giving him anything - anything he wanted anyhow. His stomach roiled, the molten heat in his belly turning into frozen slush as they stopped in front of his room. The door was already open. Quietly, Lionel pushed it open, dragging Kal in after him. Anxiety was like a yoke around his throat, its knot growing tighter as he was being led deeper into the room. Lionel stopped abruptly, Mercy sitting on his bed, cradling a blanket-covered bundle in her arms. _

_"M-Master?" Lionel ignored him, and gave the boy a gentle push on the small of his back, urging him forward. Mercy looked up at him as he approached, her eyes hidden behind her sunglasses. The bed creaked as Kal sank beside Mercy. Her fingers pulled back a corner of the blanket, revealing a baby - small, newly born - with a great mop of dark curls on his head. _

_Instinctively, Kal reached out and took him, resting its head against the crook of his neck. Its breath was soft, sweet as it let out another yawn, slipping shut before wiggling into its new found warmth. _

_"What... what is this?" he asked._

_"It's yours. You son: Kon-El." _

_"Kon-El?" the boy parroted. The name felt unpleasant on his tongue, as if it were sour. Poisoned. Mockery. "A clone. You gave a clone my family's name..."_

_"Nothing so crass as that," the man scoffed. He joined them on the bed, snaking a hand around the boy's waist. The baby mewled as Kal jostled him trying to turn away. "And you should be honored! He's a genetic masterpiece!"_

_Kal gasped as his ribs were being squeezed together. He struggled against Lionel's tightening grip, edging closer and closer to the other side of the bed to get away. It stretched and stretched, becoming a long, white tendril, slowly coiling itself around his midsection. _

_"A child of both worlds: Kryptonian and Human!" Lionel continued to shout, flecks of spit shining in his beard as his arms wound high on his chest. His eyes were wild like a rabid dog. Kal grunted, struggling to the infant out of reach. _

_"Humans will evolve beyond our own pathetic limitations!" _

_The boy was gasping for air as the tendrils loped around his throat. The baby began to wail._

_"The Amazons, the Atlantians, the Martians - No one will be a match for us!"_

_They coiled higher and higher, silencing Kal's screams as they slithered across his mouth._

_"Mankind will be unstoppable!" Kon-El began to slip from his grasp._

_Desperately, he claws at the darkness as the baby's wailing ceased and then-!_

Kal started, eyes wide as his nose brushed against the stark white ceiling, sheets tangling his floating form. Hands settled on hips as they slowly turn him over midair. Kal blinked. A pair of verdant eyes blinked back. Lex's brow was furrowed so deeply as he pulled him down like a wayward balloon.

"You were hovering and talking in your sleep again," Lex explained, untangling carefully but quickly. His voice was still thick with sleep. "You were..." He paused, dipping his hairless head as if the words were caught in some mechanism and would tumbling out. "...having another nightmare."

"I...I am sorry." The words were like vinegar, burning his throat. Lex said nothing. He clapped his shoulder tenderly before making his way to their wardrobe. Kal's teeth clenched together, pinching the inside of his cheek until the sour taste and his nausea abated. He looked up at Lex, noting the deep creases in his lab coat as he tried to hide a yawn behind a freshly pressed shirt. His eyes darted over the well-defined groove on the sofa and a makeshift next of throw blankets. He winced, hissing at sight of the plaster buried under his nails and coating the front of his pajama shirt. Craning his neck upward, he saw the ceiling was covered in angry, violent trenches.

"Don't be sorry. Things happen. That can be patched," Lex replied as he returning with his arms full of clothing. He carefully set the pile on the bed beside the Kryptonian before giving Kal a genuine, gentle smile. "Now, then: Red flannel or blue flannel?"

The morning winds raced across the bay as the sun crept over on the horizon. Kon closed his eyes as its light washed over him. A flock of seagulls swooped past, the flutter of their wings and their cries echoing in the small silence as Metropolis began to stir. He shoveled a spoonful of sugary cereal in his mouth, perched on a cloud, watching the morning light cascaded the city in gold.

It was perfect.

Kon loved nothing else but to watch Metropolis - watching as the people filed out from their high-rises and into the city street.

Humans were a curiosity: From sunrise to sunset, they were a whirlwind of organized chaos - a fury of energy and motion. Everyday, they went their offices where they couriered stacks of papers back and forth between formidable looking people in equally formidable looking suits. Their cars weaved in and out along the streets, filling the air with their angry shouts and car horns. They swarmed the sidewalks like schools of fish as they made their way to their destinations, heads bowed as they fiddled with their smartphones.

And those were just the grown-ups.

But children... Children were a complete mystery to Kon-El.

They shrieked for the sake of shrieking, chasing each other over the playground blacktops. They climbed the few tree Metropolis had to offer and splashed in open hydrants in the summertime. Every fall they were herded into school but at recess and what Mercy called "gym," they were nothing boundless energy. Children were unfettered, unburdened by the worries of adulthood and excited about life.

A coldness blossomed within his belly, causing Kon to pull his pajama collar high on his neck. A lone gull alighted his shoulder, pulling him from his reverie. It cawed meekly as it gestured to the now-soggy cereal. He offered up his bowl. The gull rooted around, its beak splashing his fingers with milk as it seized a few brightly color nuggets and took off.

"Kon!" He jumped; milk sloshed onto his fingers as he peered below. His Aunt Lena stood on the rooftop patio below, her arms crossed over the lapels of her grey suit jacket.

"Happy Birthday, Kon," she greeted, a mischievous smile playing on thin lips. "I see you've started the day by devouring an entire box of cereal."

"Thanks," he returned sheepishly, wiping the milk from his hand on the side of his pajama pant. "I am a growing boy."

"Tell me about it. But, honestly, Konnie," Lena chided, flicking away a bit of cereal stuck his pouting face when he was in arm's reach. "Stop using tactile telekinesis when you make breakfast. You're costing us a small fortune in kitchen appliances…"

"That toaster was like that when I found it this morning," he returned, cheeks puffed in mock anger. "And my name is Kon!"

"You're name should be 'Trouble.'" She gave her nephew a playful swat on his backside as she corralled him into the penthouse. "Clean up, then go get showered and dressed. Roquette and Spence are waiting on you, young man."

Kon-El grumbled, tapping his finger against dismantled machine. It jumped, sparks flying, as the parts shooting upward. They levitated, rotating slowly in the air before it began rebuilding itself: Piece-by-piece, its components clinked rhythmically and rapidly, rotating to fit each other like a puzzle. They watched, entranced, as wires wove across circuit boards, as spring recoiled themselves. And when it was over, the newly reconstructed toaster fell into Kon's waiting hands.

"Oh, look at that!" Lena exclaimed. Her eyes were with wide surprise, as she turned the appliance over in her hands. "But does it work?"

"Of course," Kon crowed as he plugged into a nearby socket. He pushed the handle down and waited. Lena let out a undignified but delighted squawk as the tell-tale red glow emanated from its chromed slots.

"You're getting good!"

"I know!"

"Now go get dressed."

Kal stared absently, listening to the measured clink of the sterling silver spoon against the china cup. He watched as the sugar cube melted away into the inky tea. He noted the persistent rust lining the bottom ridge of Lena's kettle. He breathed deeply the heavy scent of Darjeeling that rose up in tendrils of steam and heat. Kal let everything take him away; he let everything put a wall between himself and Lex, as the man rambled on:

"It'll only be for the summer."

_Click._

"He'll be back before you know it."

_Clack._

"Kon will love the Manor."

_Clink._

"It's spacious, safe, and, most importantly, secluded." He took a respite to slide several print-outs of a stately mansion on the table in front of him. Kal couldn't be bothered to look. He set the cup down roughly on top the pictures. Coffee sloshed onto them, causing the prints to run and the colors to become muddled and muddy.

"That's _not_ the issue," he hissed. Gingerly, Kal traced the red line running parallel across the column of his throat. "We can lift a ton like it's nothing, fly fast enough to break the sound barrier, and cut diamonds with just a look..."

"...which is exactly why Kon-El need to live with other human beings," Lex argued. "He's been trained to hone his abilities, taught that there are limits in using his power but none of that will matter until he's out there, living in the world..."

"Lex, don't lie to me. Kon's full power set hasn't fully manifested itself. You're taking a huge gamble letting an adolescent metahuman have carte blanche!"

"I am not. They can help Kon focus; they can challenge him; they can-"

"Control him," Kal said softly. "I'm not stupid. You'll have to give them Kryptonite."

There was a rustle of cloth and the crumpling of paper. He felt calloused fingers gently traced the ridges of his knuckles, as they moved to cover his trembling hand.

"But Kon deserves a chance to-"

"It does more than hurt us," Kal continued, cutting Lex off. "It robs you of everything - sight, sound, reason. It's like millions of knives carving you from the inside out; it's white hot fire burning you alive, leaving you helpless... He could do that to Kon."

"Never."

"But the other one would," the Kryptonian returned sorrowfully. "'Bat-Man' would."

"Yes," came Lex's calm reply. "But only if he absolutely had to. Only if Kon was in danger-"

"Or a danger. Or an inconvenience..." Bitterness lined every word as Kal pulled himself free from his Lex's grasp. Ignoring his partner's hurt expression, he continued: "I am not happy about this."

"So, you'll...?"

"Bruce can ask," Kal muttered. "But that's all he can do."


End file.
